This invention relates to a windscreen wiper connecting element for connecting a straight wiper arm end portion, provided with screw connecting means, in side-by-side relationship with a wiper yoke assembly.
Replacement wiper yoke assemblies are generally provided with a plurality of different adaptors for enabling them to be detachably connected to wiper arms having a variety of different end terminations. One particular type of wiper arm connection involves connecting the wiper arm end portion in side-by-side relationship with the wiper yoke assembly. Generally it is necessary to provide a separate wiper adaptor to accomplish such a wiper arm connection and examples of such known wiper adaptors are shown in GB-A-1586402, GB-A-1318978 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,200.
Providing separate wiper adaptors for each type of wiper arm end termination increases the cost of the wiper yoke assembly. It is therefore advantageous to design wiper adaptors which can be connected by themselves, or with the aid of a relatively cheap connecting element, to different types of wiper arm end terminations. In particular for the connection in side-by-side relationship with a wiper yoke assembly of a wiper arm having a straight end portion provided with screw-threaded holes spaced apart along its length, it has been proposed to use a relatively cheap-to-produce connecting element. Such a connecting element converts a conventional wiper adaptor, provided with the wiper yoke assembly for connecting a wiper arm end in the plane of the wiper yoke assembly, into a wiper adaptor suitable for connecting the straight wiper arm end portion in side-by-side relationship with the wiper yoke assembly.
The known connecting elements for converting existing wiper adaptors are metallic and are of the type comprising a first part of generally elongate form for connection to the straight wiper arm end portion, a second part spaced from and generally parallel to the first part for connection to the wiper adaptor, and a connecting web joining the first and second parts together. In use of the wiper yoke assembly, all forces from the wiper arm to the wiper yoke assembly are transmitted via the connecting element and in particular via the connecting web of the connecting element. Heretofore the connecting web has been designed as a planar part and, in order to have sufficient strength in use, it has been necessary for the metal from which the connecting element is made to be relatively thick.